On Wednesday, rapper B-Real of Cypress Hill and Prophets of Rage will celebrate the grand opening of his new “Dr. Greenthumb” recreational marijuana dispensary in southern California.

It’s the latest stage in what’s been a significant evolution for the prominent cannabis-friendly musician, who less than two years ago declared himself opposed to the state’s marijuana legalization ballot measure that is making his new venture possible.

In a press release issued Friday advertising “an all day blowout” at Dr. Greenthumb in Sylmar, California, B-Real is described as “a prominent figure at the forefront of cannabis legalization for over two decades.”

“We have a lot of history behind us as it relates to music and the pro-legalization movement,” B-Real said, according to the statement.

That history includes opposing Proposition 64, which legalized marijuana for adults 21 and over and also paved the way for regulated commercial storefronts like the one B-Real is opening.

In the run-up to the November 2016 election, where Prop. 64—also known as the Adult Use of Marijuana Act—passed with more than 57 percent of the vote, the rapper used social media to agitate against its passage.

These are the lines in between the lines. Read up Cali! People from out of our state have no clue but people in Washington can relate pic.twitter.com/v4rWHLsLLb

On October 10, 2016, less than a month before Election Day, the rapper shared an image on social media that claimed Prop. 64 “helps keep the drug cartels in business,” “sets up HUGE growing operations for rich white people, destroying small businesses” and “turns rights into priviledges” [sic].

“Read up Cali!” B-Real wrote on Twitter, where he posted the image that claimed “This is NOT Legalization. VOTE NO.”

B-Real’s opposition was similar to anti-legalization messaging coming from other marijuana advocates, many of whom claimed that the measure was a corporate giveaway that would harm small-and-medium producers. At least some of that has come to pass as the cannabis economy adapts in response to the new reality of broader legalization.

But B-Real seems to have adjusted to the new reality almost immediately.

On Election Night, after cannabis ballot measures won in California, Maine, Massachusetts and Nevada, he posted a message of congratulations.

“Although I’m someone that was and is concerned about prop 64, California made history tonight and to that I tip my hat,” he wrote.

In an e-mail sent via a spokeswoman in response to Marijuana Moment’s questions about B-Real’s evolution on California legalization, the rapper took a free-market approach. He opposed Prop. 64 because of legalization’s regulations and taxes, he explained.

“I was opposed to it at the time because some of the new regulations and penalties along with overwhelming taxation which seemed to be unfair to smaller businesses,” he wrote. “Additionally, a number of other complicated issues that are just now being addressed with new and changing policies. I still think there are things that need further due diligence to give the small business owner a chance at succeeding before the big businesses start to come into play.”

A week after the election, B-Real released a record that, according to a press release, “passionately advocates for marijuana legalization across all 50 states.”

In promotional material for “Prohibition Part 3,” B-Real appeared in a photoshopped image smoking marijuana in public—an act that, were he to do it in real life, is punishable only by a $100 citation thanks to Prop. 64.

And earlier this year, B-Real gave an interview to a New Zealand-based website in which he declared that legalization has “been great.”

“For most of us that have been in the culture for a long time, we’re just seeing and waiting for more of the regulations to happen to know how it’s going to operate officially,” he told Under the Radar. “Right now all the rules and regulation aren’t implemented and in place so we’re just taking it as each day comes and try to be informed and being a step ahead. But it’s been great, a lot of people are happier.”

Regulated and taxed commercial sales of marijuana began in California on January 1.

B-Real, whose musical repertoire with Cypress Hill includes “Hits from the Bong,” “Dr. Greenthumb” has been trying to enter the marijuana-dispensary business since 2015.

In February of that year, he won a lottery drawing to open one of the first medical-cannabis dispensaries in Santa Ana, in Orange County, California.

But by September 2016, shortly before B-Real’s public disavowal of marijuana legalization, the dispensary had still yet to open.

Now, thanks to the passage of Amendment 64 over his own objections, B-Real will be able to sell cannabis to adults over 21 years of age regardless of whether they have a doctor’s recommendation.

“I never changed that stance, but I do have a brand that myself and my partners have been building for a number years in the cannabis industry aside from my over 20 years of advocacy,” B-Real said in his statement to Marijuana Moment about his concerns with the measure. “My intention was always open a shop when the right opportunity presented itself and that we could be fully compilant [sic]. This would ultimately allow me to have a landing place for our brands in the cannabis community for recreation and medicinal consumers.”

The rapper also said that he plans to use some of the proceeds from the new retail operation to “give back to the community and create programs for the youth and show the positive impact from the cannabis community and break some of the still existing opposition.”

“Good can come from this community and we plan to educate through our example,” he said.

Chris Roberts is a reporter and writer based in San Francisco. He has covered the cannabis industry since 2009, with bylines in the Guardian, Deadspin, Leafly News, The Observer, The Verge, Curbed, Cannabis Now, SF Weekly and others.

Congress needs to come up with a solution for banking access by the marijuana industry, a top federal Treasury Department official said on Wednesday. And he hopes that will happen by 2020, if not sooner.

Joseph Otting, the comptroller of the currency, told reporters that lawmakers “have to act at the national level to legalize marijuana if they want those entities involved in that business to utilize the U.S. banking system,” according to PoliticoPro.

Cannabis businesses acting in compliance with state law face uncertainty when dealing with federally regulated financial institutions. And banks potentially risk being penalized for servicing those businesses, leading many to avoid the industry altogether.

“If I’m a betting person, I’m like 25-30 percent maybe next year, but I would hope by 2020 we can get this issue resolved,” said Otting, who was also recently assigned to double duty as acting director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency.

He previously called the existing situation “generally not healthy,” echoing comments made by Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, who said “it would be great if [the banking issue] could be clarified.”

Similarly, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin has described the banking conflict as untenable. He said last year that his department was “reviewing the existing guidance,” referring to a 2014 Obama-era policy memo meant to provide direction for banks on how to service marijuana businesses.

“We do want to find a solution to make sure that businesses that have large access to cash have a way to get them into a depository institution for it to be safe,” he said.

Sen. Chuck Schumer Welcomes Major Cannabis Company To New York’s Hemp Industry

Canadian marijuana giant Canopy Growth Corporation will enter the nascent U.S. hemp industry by building a massive farming and production center in southern New York, U.S. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) announced on Monday.

Canopy has yet to finalize its plans for an exact location—a contract could be signed as soon as Monday, Schumer said—but the company could eventually support “up to 400 jobs” in hemp cultivation, processing and product manufacturing at what would be a “first of its kind” center for the just-legalized U.S. hemp industry, the senator said.

Once a key American crop—George Washington famously grew hemp at Mount Vernon, and there was a stand of hemp plants in northern Virginia where the Pentagon now stands—the U.S. now lags far behind other countries in hemp production, a result of the country’s broad outlawing of cannabis decades ago.

Eventually, Canopy plans to invest “between $100-$150 million” into a New York State-based industrial hemp farm, Schumer said, with other companies potentially drawn to the sector by such a prominent anchor business.

“Hemp is a very valuable product and a burgeoning crop here” in southern New York, said Schumer, offering a very brief remedial education in the plant for those present at a press conference he convened. “I’m not kidding when I say this, but hemp is everywhere.”

“This is going to be a major shot in the arm” for the area, he added.

“Hemp” is more of a legal than a botanical distinction. Under U.S. law, cannabis sativa with 0.3 percent or more THC is considered “marijuana” and falls under federal drug-control laws. Cannabis with less than 0.3 percent THC is considered industrial hemp.

Hemp has been legal to import and process, but until very recently, hemp cultivation was mostly illegal in the U.S.

That prohibition that ended when President Donald Trump signed the 2018 Farm Bill into law last month. The previous 2014 version of the Farm Bill created a pilot program for states that wished to legalize small-scale hemp cultivation as part of research programs.

Based on that success and on growing support for an end to cannabis prohibition nationwide, the 2018 Farm Bill legalized cultivation of hemp outright. Almost immediately, politicians began touting the crop’s potential as a miracle product and an economic boon with enthusiasm once reserved only for acolytes of hemp evangelist Jack Herer.

Marijuana legalization hasn’t hurt alcohol sales in the years since legal markets were established in Colorado, Washington State and Oregon, according to a new study from an alcohol trade association.

The Distilled Spirits Council looked at alcohol tax and shipment data before and after legalization to determine whether cannabis reform impacted sales of spirits, beer or wine in legal states.

“Simply put, the data show there has been no impact on spirits sales from recreational marijuana legalization,” the council’s chief economist, David Ozgo, said in a press release on Thursday.

“We now have four years of retail recreational marijuana sales history in Colorado and Washington state, and three years in Oregon, and each of these markets remain robust for spirits sales,” he said. “We did this study because there is a lot of misinformation circulating about the impact of recreational marijuana legalization on distilled spirits and the wider alcohol market.”

Per capita spirits sales actually increased slightly in post-legalization years, which was consistent with national trends. Sales were up 7.6 percent in Colorado, 5.4 percent in Washington and 3.6 percent in Oregon.

Via the Distilled Spirits Council.

The trade association also analyzed beer and wine sales during the same period. For beer, sales were down marginally, with drops of 3.6 percent in Colorado, 2.3 percent in Washington and 3.6 in Oregon. But again, that’s consistent with national trends, according to the study.

Via the Distilled Spirits Council.

Wine sales were mixed across the three states: Up 3.2 percent in Colorado, down 3.1 percent in Washington and up .7 percent in Oregon.

Via the Distilled Spirits Council.

The Distilled Spirits Council also used their analysis as an opportunity to plug their policy recommendations to lawmakers in states considering marijuana legalization. While the association has declined to take a position on whether to legalize, it shared a list of recommendations ranging from equitable taxes on cannabis and alcohol to THC content disclosure requirements.

Reform advocates have questioned whether legal access to marijuana would adversely impact alcohol sales, with more people opting to consume cannabis over booze. There is some research that indicates the alcohol industry is being interrupted in medical marijuana states, but more data is needed.